Friend or Foe
by BloodSoakedCutie
Summary: A possible one-shot of Puzzleshipping. Not sure if I'll continue or not. I'm sorry; I didn't try very hard -.-'


Yami no Yugi X Yugi Puzzle Shipping

Friend or Foe

*Listen to t.A.T.u's song, Friend or Foe. It sets the mood.

_Love one another_

_Live for each other_

_So, are you friend or foe?_

'_Cause I used to know_

"Pharaoh," Yugi called softly at first, then after he hadn't answered, he said a bit louder, "Pharaoh." Yami stared blankly out the window in Yugi's room, his mouth slightly open, and his eyelids drooping as if he were half-asleep. "Pharaoh!"

"Hu—hm?" Yami's head slipped off the palm of his hand as he turned suddenly to look at his other self. "What is it, Aibou?"

"I've been asking you about what deck we should use against (insert villain here), since he has (insert powerful card here). Plus, he took my (Yugi card here), so I thought I should rebuild my deck around a new monster."

"Oh, sorry. Uhm, what monster did you want to build it around?" Yami's eyes were still very blank, seeming to look through and past Yugi. It unnerved him, but he turned to his deck and shuffled through them quickly to locate his Dark Magician.

"What would it be other than the Dark Magician?" He smiled briefly at his most loyal card, then turned again to Yami. "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine…" Yugi reached out, knowing he would pass through the Pharaoh's hand, but tried to pantomime a gesture of comfort and concern. Yami looked down, and smiled blankly, and pantomimed holding Yugi's hand. "Really, I'm fine." He looked up, feigning attentiveness. Yugi looked concerned, but decided not to push it further.

That night, Yugi was restless, thinking about the Pharaoh's odd behaviour earlier that day. Even while they had been arranging the new deck, it seemed as though he couldn't focus, and continued to space out, simply staring and trailing off in the middle of his thoughts.

Yugi was half asleep at this point, restlessly tossing around but not able to wake up completely, and tried to escape by going to his soul room. As per usual, the door was open and the floor was littered with his favourite games and toys. One thing that was different was that the Pharaoh was standing just inside the door, looking frantic and breathing heavily.

"Mou hitori no boku?" The Pharaoh looked up as Yugi cautiously called his other self. "What's wrong?" He rolled his shoulders, standing taller, reclaiming himself, and walked carefully around the toys to stand just in front of Yugi.

"Aibou…" Yami's eyes were clouded, but focused entirely on Yugi's large eyes and petite face. Before thinking, he brought up his hand to touch Yugi's cheek fleetingly, forgetting that Yugi would feel it in his soul room.

He flinched away at first, the touch feeling strange as they usually couldn't feel each other. Yami pulled away his hand quickly, mumbling a hurried, "Sorry." Yugi gazed up at him, Yami avoiding his eyes now, trying not to notice the concern in his partner's eyes. He closed his eyes, trying to think of an excuse. "It's nothing, really."  
"Mou hitori no boku…" Yugi said, furrowing his brows in confusion at the taller man in front of him. "It's alright. Even if something is bothering you, you know you can at least tell me. Maybe you'll feel better." He smiled reassuringly at him, inviting him to spill out the emotions that Yami had yet to understand.

"I…Aibou, I'm not sure if I can tell even you…" Yami clenched his teeth, feeling horrible. Before he let Yugi pry further, he turned and ran, leaping over the games, running through the door and across their soul hall to his own labyrinth of a soul room.

"Mou hitori no boku!" Yugi called out, reaching out as if to catch his arm. "Wait!" He ran, slamming into the Pharaoh's soul room from the force of his momentum, but it was shut, closed and locked. He rattled the doorknob a few times before resting his forehead just under the golden eye that adorned the Pharaoh's door. "Pharaoh…"

Inside, Yami had slid down to the floor, an elbow resting on his knee with his hand to his eyes. A single tear escaped. "I forgot…that I could taint your very _heart_ here, Aibou…" He pulled both knees to his chest. "If nothing else, I wish to protect you from my corrupted soul…I would never wish you pain, but I may be the one to cause it someday…" He wept silently into the cold palms of his hands.


End file.
